Scottish Number Plates Deleted From APNR

A Police Scotland move to delete more than 500 million records from its vehicle number plate recognition database has been welcomed by the Lib Dems.

The climbdown comes after a Lib Dem Freedom of Information request last year revealed that 852,507,524 number plate records captured by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras across the country were held in a Police Scotland database, with data available from as far back as 2009.

Data retention laws require that any such information is only kept for crimes, while all other data must be deleted.

The Lib Dems had expressed concern that the retention of so much information relating to innocent individuals was infringing on people’s civil liberties.

The number of records deleted was revealed by the police in response to another Freedom of Information request submitted by the Lib Dems.

Information provided by the police showed 547,459,904 number plate records had been disposed of.

Police Scotland’s response revealed that in June last year a senior officer had instructed that number plate data should be “weeded out” two years after it was added, apart from those required for ongoing investigations.

It said this deletion was in line with Home Office and Information Commissioner’s Office guidance. It added that “manual weeding” of the data began in October last year.

Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: “Last year we revealed that Police Scotland had nearly a billion records of number plates, with the overwhelming majority belonging to entirely innocent motorists.

“It has been proven that ANPR cameras can be useful in locating stolen vehicles and identifying uninsured motorists, but we’ve not been given any evidence to show just how effective they are at doing that.

“I am glad to see that, after raising this issue, Police Scotland has finally taken action to delete over 500 million records and introduce a policy that will see old records deleted automatically.

“There are essential questions that remain unanswered, however; such as how Police Scotland was able to amass such an enormous surveillance network without a clear statutory basis or parliamentary debate. The SNP has a poor record when it comes to protecting people’s civil liberties, eroding and ending many rights and liberties.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “ANPR cameras are a useful tool to help detect, deter and  disrupt criminality. Their use is a matter for Police Scotland, operating in compliance with all relevant legislation.”

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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